What's moving through the Heartland

First a shocking headline where a ship takes out a big chunk of the Eggner's
Ferry Bridge. Then, almost as surprising, we learned the vessel is carrying
rocket parts for NASA.

We did some investigating and discovered there's quite a bit of interesting
cargo moving up and down our railways and rivers.

First we learned more about the cargo carried by the Delta Mariner from the
Foss Maritime Company.

Before the boat made headlines for the bridge collapse, it was well known on
the river for a special purpose. The Delta Mariner is built to carry specific
parts for NASA. In fact, we learned parts on the ship now are meant for an Air
Force mission in April and a NASA mission in August. We're told both of those
missions are still on schedule. Foss Maritime also says the parts on the ship
were not damaged.

Meanwhile, they are still there as the company and the coast guard work on a
salvage plan.

"That ship is made for those specific parts," said Lt. Ron Easley
of the Coast Guard. "You can't just move them they roll on and off."

From Dan Overbey at the SEMO Port Authority, we learned travel snafu's
happen occasionally when you consider the size and type of cargo traveling up
and down our rivers.

"They can be two, three, four stories tall," said Overbey.

Overbey recalls several memorable instances. Like a four story piece of cargo
for Conoco Phillips used to refine crude oil. In 2009, it couldn't made it
under the Cape Girardeau Emerson Bridge, so it had to sit at the port until the
river levels went down.

"It was kind of neat to have it sitting there," said Overbey.

"It's the big stuff that's the most eye catching," said Overbey.

"We handle just about anything you can think of, a lot of grain,
chemicals and fertilizer. But also a lot of big industrial parts that are too
big or too risky to make it on the road."

As for the Mariner, Overbey says he's familiar with the ship.

"The crew has to be the best of the best," he said. "I can't
imagine what could have happened."

As for trains, now a days, according to Union Pacific, they carry a lot of
blades for solar, wind or hydro power.

Also, produce is a hot item because trains now have the means to keep the
items cold.

We're told a lot of frozen french fries and potatoes roll through the
Heartland.

However, the Delta Mariner is still sitting between the piers of the
Eggner's Ferry Bridge until the company and Coast Guard agree on a plan to move
it out.

Authorities say a missing Pennsylvania teenager and a 45-year-old man who frequently signed her out of school without her parents' permission have been located in Mexico, and the man has been arrested.

Authorities say a missing Pennsylvania teenager and a 45-year-old man who frequently signed her out of school without her parents' permission have been located in Mexico, and the man has been arrested.

(AP Photo/Jennifer Kay). Six crosses are placed at a makeshift memorial on the Florida International University campus in Miami on Saturday, March 17, 2018, near the scene of a pedestrian bridge collapse that killed at least six people on March 15.

A matter of seconds between those who would live and those who would die as Florida pedestrian bridge topples down highway bustling with passing vehicles.

A matter of seconds between those who would live and those who would die as Florida pedestrian bridge topples down highway bustling with passing vehicles.

(Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP). FBI agents work the scene of an explosion in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 18, 2018. At least a few people were injured in another explosion in Texas' capital late Sunday, after three package bombs detonat...

Officials reported that an explosion in southwest Austin injured two men in their 20s who were hospitalized with injuries that didn't appear to be life-threatening.

Officials reported that an explosion in southwest Austin injured two men in their 20s who were hospitalized with injuries that didn't appear to be life-threatening.

(Joe Ahlquist/The Rochester Post-Bulletin via AP). Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a fatal stabbing Saturday, March 17, 2018, at the Salvation Army Castleview Residence in downtown Rochester, Minn. Police have arrested a man in the multiple...

Police have arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of two men at a Salvation Army apartment building in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.

Police have arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of two men at a Salvation Army apartment building in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.

Conway parents were arrested for unlawful neglect of a child after their baby was allegedly thrown from his car seat, according to a police report from Horry County Police. 20-year-old Juliana Biggerstaff and 22-year-old Jacob Lowman were arrested on Thursday after a complainant called police. Officers responded to a residence on Woodwinds Drive in Conway on March 14. Upon arrival, officers located a baby boy with a “visible injury to the top of his h...

Conway parents were arrested for unlawful neglect of a child after their baby was allegedly thrown from his car seat, according to a police report from Horry County Police. 20-year-old Juliana Biggerstaff and 22-year-old Jacob Lowman were arrested on Thursday after a complainant called police. Officers responded to a residence on Woodwinds Drive in Conway on March 14. Upon arrival, officers located a baby boy with a “visible injury to the top of his h...